TRP: Mishka and Roddy (Wedding Prank)
COYOTE 254. The gang has just returned from saving Little Creek. Roddy is feeling uncertain and uncomfortable towards Hansel after Hansel's "wedding prank" on Mishka. Roddy was acting odd. He kept hugging Hansel and then pulling away, fidgeting and leaving the room, avoiding Hansel's eyes. Hansel, it seemed, was in too good a mood to catch it; probably still riding the high of renewing their vows and having a short honeymoon with their boyfriend. But Mishka noticed. He watched Roddy for a couple days to make sure it was real and he wasn't just being paranoid. Then he waited until Roddy had a quiet moment alone. He found Roddy in the library, scribbling away in his journal. "Hey, Turtle Kid," Mishka said. ABBY Usually, writing things out helped Roddy organize his thoughts. Today though, he found himself doodling in the margins, and not putting words on the page. But he wanted to figure this out, so he just... stayed there. Doodling. Till he heard Mishka come in. "Mishka! Hey." Roddy grinned, closing his journal and setting it off to the side. "Watcha up to? Looking for a book?" COYOTE Mishka sat on the arm of the couch. He watched Roddy carefully, but tried to make it look like he wasn't doing so. "Nah, s'pose I just wanted to chat. Hey-- are you doing alright?" Maybe it wasn't Hansel. Maybe it was something else. ABBY Oh hey chatting? That was even better! "Yeah I'm doing fine, why wouldn't I be?" COYOTE "Oh-- I suppose I was just wondering, if, ah." Mishka frowned. He paused delicately. This was normally the sort've situation where he'd try to figure out the information some other way, but it occurred to him he could just fuckin' ask. "Is something up with you and Hans?" he asked. "You seem uncomfortable with him. Y'know, I adore Hans, but-- sometimes he scares people unintentionally..." Which hurt to admit. Hansel was always so fucking careful with people he loved, like he was afraid if he touched them too hard he'd break them. ABBY Roddy twitched, looking away. "No, everything's fine. Dad's great. Why would I be mad at him?" COYOTE Mishka frowned. "I didn't say mad." ABBY "Well-- oh." Roddy shifted. "That doesn't mean I'm mad," he said sullenly. He wasn't. Dad was the best dad. He was really nice and he really loved Roddy. Everything was fine. COYOTE "That's okay, motek. I don't think you're mad." Mishka frowned. He slid down to sit on the couch. "Did something happen?" ABBY Roddy stared down at the couch, picking at the seams. "I guess," he mumbled. Maybe it was just a little thing though. Not a big deal. It was nice though, Mishka caring about it. He was great. COYOTE "We don't have to talk about it if it makes you uncomfortable, sweetheart," Mishka said, still frowning. "We can wait." Sometimes that's what he and Hansel had to do. Sometimes Hansel got... too worked about things, and talking about it made it worse. "Maybe it will help to talk, though," Mishka said. "D'you suppose it'll help or make it worse?" ABBY "It's not a big deal," Roddy hedged. Still skirting around it-- whatever it was. "I'll be fine. It's-- it's dumb. Nothing to worry about." COYOTE Hm. "That's good to know, little one. If it's not a big deal, surely you can tell me what it is, yes?" ABBY "I'm not little," Roddy muttered, glaring at the wall now. He was-- grown. He went on adventures. And yeah he liked having his Dad do dad things but he wasn't like... Theo. COYOTE "Ah, Turtle Kid. I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. Of course not. Hansel calls me little sometimes, y'know. I meant it affectionately, is all." Mishka tucked his legs under him. He prodded Roddy with his foot. "I can call you 'old one'," he said solemnly. "Or large one." ABBY Mishka was joking around, Roddy knew. Trying to make him feel better. It wasn't working. "Or you could not," he snapped irritably. COYOTE "Alright," Mishka said. "Tovta. I won't call you things." He eyed Roddy. He thought, briefly, about backing off and leaving to give Roddy space, then re-approaching the Hansel subject later. He supposed he didn't want to leave, though. So instead, he went to the shelves and selected a book to read: The Daring Adventures of Taryon Darrington. He settled down on the couch to read it. ABBY Roddy shifted restlessly. He wished he hadn't snapped at Mishka. He was just irritable and Mishka caught the brunt of it. Thought about letting him read, but-- Roddy wanted to resolve this now. So he scooted over to sit next to Mishka, pulling him into a hug. "I'm sorry," he said. "I'm not... mad at you. S'another thing." COYOTE "It's alright. I know how that is." Mishka patted his shell, but didn't let go. "Y'know, when I was little, when I got upset, I accidentally burned people a lot," he admitted. He winced. "Some of them... fairly badly. I can hardly talk." ABBY "Magic's hard," Roddy agreed. He'd had accidents too-- when he was little. Outgrown 'em at least. Still was struggling with the emotional... stuff though. "I just..." he made a frustrated noise, squeezing a little tighter. "It's dumb. Shouldn't be so upset. It's not a big deal." COYOTE "Sometimes things are bigger than they look," Mishka pointed out. "Suppose it's large to you, but not to someone else. That happens sometimes." ABBY "Yeah well... it shouldn't be big. Dad loves me. He was doing something nice. Just..." he trailed off. Roddy couldn't remember what all he'd done, at the wedding. He knew he hurt someone-- Ombre at least he was pretty sure. Morgan as well. Jonn, he wasn't as sure about. And they were his friends. His family. Roddy loved them too, he never wanted to hurt them, and Dad went and set things up so Roddy had and-- and-- and he was mad about it. COYOTE "Doing something nice? Doing what?" ABBY Roddy tensed up. Let go of Mishka and hugged one knee to his chest instead. "...the wedding," he finally admitted, aloud. COYOTE "What do you... ah. Ah, the whole trick Hansel played on me?" Mishka said. He gave Roddy a little space, just a little, but stayed nearby. ABBY Roddy nodded. "I hurt my friends," he said softly. "He... set things up so I hurt them and I didn't know and... and..." Roddy rubbed at his eyes. They felt wet. "Why didn't he tell me?" COYOTE Mishka paused delicately. "Well... why didn't he tell me, d'you suppose?" ABBY "Cause it was a surprise for you," Roddy said. "You liked it. You had fun, and it was a good day. Good wedding surprise. For you." Not for Roddy. COYOTE "That's fair, sweetheart. Listen." Mishka searched for the right words. "There are a lot of reasons Hansel might have chosen not to tell you. Planning a wedding is often... overwhelming. Particularly when, y'know, we're people like us, who are constantly running around to fight monsters and and save the world and such. Perhaps there was so much chaos it slipped his mind. Perhaps he meant to tell you, but forgot. Perhaps he wrote you a note, but then it got lost. Perhaps he was afraid if he told too many people, it might get out accidentally." He sat next to Roddy again and wrapped his arm around Roddy's shell. "But I know one thing for certain, sweetheart, and that's that Hansel didn't keep it secret to hurt you." ABBY Roddy leaned into the hug. Mishka had good points. Maybe it had been an accident-- or maybe it had simply been trying to keep too many people from finding out. But... "Still did though," Roddy said softly. "Kept a secret, and... hurt me." He wasn't angry so much any more. That was fading. Now it was a quiet sting of betrayal. COYOTE "For certain, sweetheart. He didn't mean to hurt you, but he did. That happens sometimes." ABBY "But he's good at being a dad." Hansel loved Roddy. Roddy didn't-- couldn't doubt that. Not the way Hansel smiled at him, told him how proud he was, pretty much any time Roddy entered the room Hansel'd give him a hug. Heck even been teaching him orcish. Hansel was a good dad. Except, this one thing... COYOTE "Certainly," Mishka said. "But not perfect, yes? Just like you're good at being a son, but not perfect. Yes?" ABBY Roddy shifted a little. That was... supposed to be different. (Roddy wasn't sure he was actually good at being a son, sometimes.) But he tried. Hansel said he was good at it. And... maybe it was the same for Hansel then. "I guess," he said slowly. Not denying just... thinking. COYOTE Mishka hummed for a bit, and kept patting Roddy's back. He settled down and let Roddy think about it. Sometimes, with Hansel, things took a bit to sink in. It took Hansel a little while to rearrange his opinion. Perhaps it was the same with Roddy. "I don't know if this will help, but in the future, I can ask Hansel to make sure you're in on this stuff," Mishka offered. ABBY "I think that'd be nice," Roddy said quietly. COYOTE "I'll do that, then." Mishka settled back down and returned to his book. No need to worry Hansel with this, he decided. He'd mention it in passing later. end Title: Wedding Prank. Summary: Roddy is upset about Hansel's wedding prank. Mishka parents Roddy and helps him figure it out. Category:Text Roleplay